Dr. Kruczek is an expert on Middle East Politics and Security with a focus on ethno-religious minorities in times of state breakdown and state recalibration. He holds a B.A., B.S., and M.A. from Penn State and a Ph.D. from Virginia Tech. His research and teaching interests in include civil war dynamics, minorities during episodes of state breakdown/state recalibration, dynamics of terrorism and crime, decision theory, intelligence and counterintelligence, denial and deception, and mobilization for armed combat. He is the Director/Advisor for the Red Cell Analytics Lab and Co-Director/Co-Advisor for the National Security Club.

Recent Publications:

"Proxies, Pawns, and Spoilers: How Pro-Iranian Elements in Iraq Use Christians and What that May Mean for Democracy," Duck of Minerva, March 27, 2024, https://www.duckofminerva.com/2024/03/proxies-pawns-and-spoilers-how-pro-iranian-elements-in-iraq-use-christians-and-what-that-many-mean-for-democracy.html

"Christian (Second-Order) Minorities and the Struggle for the Homeland: The Assyrian Democratic Movement in Iraq and the Nineveh Plains Protection Units," Journal of the Middle East and Africa 12(1): 1-29. DOI:10.1080/21520844.2021.1886521

Current Research Projects: 

• Carrots and Sticks: the KRG's use of Minorities in the Drive for Statehood in Post-Saddam Iraq.

• Second Order Minorities and Homeland Claims During Civil War: Christians in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq